(1) Field of the invention
The present invention relates to a receptacle that both supports an opened paper or plastic bag and stores folded bags. In particular, the present invention relates to a receptacle that both supports an opened paper or plastic bag and stores one or more folded bags, and is mounted for sliding fore and aft movement on a base. The apparatus of the invention is generally comprised of only three separate component parts that are inexpensive to manufacture and are easily assembled to a flat horizontal base surface.
(2) Description of the Related Art
It has long been common practice to reuse the carryout paper and plastic bags given out at grocery stores and other types of stores. These types of bags have been used in the home and the workplace for a variety of purposes. Very often, the bags are saved and are reused in the home or workplace as disposable trash bags. The bags are used as liners in trash cans and wastepaper baskets and are disposed of when filled with trash or wastepaper.
The use of trash cans and wastepaper baskets, and the use of store carryout bags as the liners for the cans and baskets, is often inconvenient. The cans or baskets take up floor space in the home or workspace and it is often necessary to store the bags in one general area of the home or workplace that is separated from the trash cans or wastepaper baskets. This necessitates going to the area of the home or work place where the carryout bags are stored to retrieve a bag for the trash can or waste basket each time the can or basket is emptied.
The present invention overcomes the inconveniences associated with prior art trash cans and wastepaper baskets, and the inconveniences associated with employing carryout shopping bags as liners for trash cans and wastepaper baskets. The present invention provides a sliding receptacle that can be mounted out-of-the-way beneath a countertop or inside a cabinet enclosure, where the apparatus both supports opened bags in the same manner as a trash can or wastepaper basket, and stores one or more folded bags.
The apparatus of the invention includes a platform that is mounted for sliding fore and aft movement on a horizontal base beneath a countertop or inside a cabinet enclosure. A basket container extends upward from the platform and provides support for opened paper bags placed inside the basket, or suspends opened plastic bags from a top edge of the basket. A U-shaped band extends from a side of the basket over a portion of the platform. The U-shaped band enables placing folded bags inside the band and on top of the platform to store the folded bags adjacent the basket container.